Warrior lacrosse beats Oceanside to open league play with win

OCEANSIDE – The Fallbrook High boy's lacrosse (4-0) team came away with a 5-2 victory over El Camino High School at Herb Meyer Stadium in Oceanside on March 25. The contest is what FHS varsity coach Paul Morgan said he believes to be "the start of a great rivalry between the two schools."

"Donovan (El Camino's varsity coach) and I coach together in the off-season and many of the boys on our teams play together on the same team during the summer; it was exciting to see them compete so hard on the field."

Senior Isaac Mattecheck opened the scoring with a dodge that barreled through multiple Wildcat defenders to put the Warriors up 1-0 in the second. El Camino responded off a Warrior penalty and knotted it up two minutes later. That was El Camino’s only goal until the final seconds of the game. The Warrior defense was led by senior Matt Sandoval who registered 11 saves and Austin King with an assist.

The Warriors would continue to go on a 4-0 run with scores by senior Andrew Akman, sophomore Matt Reynolds, and two by freshman Nathan Chalut.

After the game, Morgan said, "We are battling through some adversity and our underclassmen have stepped up under some tremendous pressure." Chalut has led all scorers in two of the four games the Warriors have played.

"Nathan has been critical to our team's success this season, he

is playing against defenders that are easily twice his size and has been making the most of his opportunities," said Morgan.

Morgan also noted the improved play of senior Walker Moran, Warrior long-stick-midfielder. "Walker has continued to improve this season and has become an integral part of our defensive success; he plays a position that requires him to run up and down the field non-stop and has provided a lot of transition opportunities for our team."

With the victory, the varsity program is off to its best start since 2009.